U.S. patent application number 14/515359 was filed with the patent office on 2016-04-21 for collaborative document editing using state-based revision.
The applicant listed for this patent is Microsoft Corporation. Invention is credited to Alexander Babanov, Duane Campbell, Sam Gensburg, Danny Khen, Dmitri Kotchetov, Douglas Mangini, Jenefer Monroe, Kartik Nathan, Nicholas Ryan, Konrad Tupaj.
Application Number | 20160110326 14/515359 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55749209 |
Filed Date | 2016-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160110326 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ryan; Nicholas ; et
al. |
April 21, 2016 |
COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENT EDITING USING STATE-BASED REVISION
Abstract
The present disclosure provides methods, systems, and computer
products for providing state-based revisions in a document
collaboration system. In some aspects, a plurality of users may be
simultaneously editing the same document on their respective
computing devices. The document may comprise a plurality of
editable objects having unique objects identifiers. In such
aspects, when a user edits an object in a local version of the
document, a state-based revision ("SBR") record is created. The SBR
is populated with information such as, information describing the
type of object being edited, a descriptor that uniquely identifies
the specific instance of the object being edited, a collection of
common references that can be adjusted by the document
collaboration engine and an opaque binary stream comprising the
modified state of the edited object. The SBR record is then
transmitted to one or more additional devices.
Inventors: |
Ryan; Nicholas; (Redmond,
WA) ; Khen; Danny; (Bellevue, WA) ; Monroe;
Jenefer; (Seattle, WA) ; Babanov; Alexander;
(Bothell, WA) ; Nathan; Kartik; (Bellevue, WA)
; Kotchetov; Dmitri; (Redmond, WA) ; Tupaj;
Konrad; (Kirkland, WA) ; Mangini; Douglas;
(Snohomish, WA) ; Gensburg; Sam; (San Francisco,
CA) ; Campbell; Duane; (Sammamish, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Microsoft Corporation |
Redmond |
WA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
55749209 |
Appl. No.: |
14/515359 |
Filed: |
October 15, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/255 ;
715/753 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/166 20200101;
G06F 40/103 20200101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/24 20060101
G06F017/24; H04L 29/08 20060101 H04L029/08; G06F 17/21 20060101
G06F017/21 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method of performing state-based
revisions, the method comprising: editing the document, wherein
editing the document produces at least one modification; creating a
state-based revision, wherein the state-based revision comprises:
information identifying an object type for an object; a unique
descriptor identifying the object; and the at least one
modification; and sending the state-based revision to a second
computing device.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least
one modification identifies a modification to an object within the
document.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the
state-based revision further comprises a header section and a body
section.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the header
section comprises at least one of: information identifying the type
of the object being modified; a unique descriptor identifying the
object being modified; and a reference to content peripheral to the
state of the object.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the body
section comprises the at least one modification.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the at least
one modification is serialized into a data stream, wherein
serializing the at least one modification comprises detecting
whether content peripheral to the state of the object is
present.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising
when content peripheral to the state of the object is detected,
replacing the content with a reference to the content, wherein the
reference to the content is at least one of a unique identifier and
a virtualized token.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the header
section is object-independent.
9. A computer-readable media storing computer executable
instructions that when executed cause a computing system to produce
a state-based revision record associated with an object, the
state-based revision record comprising: a generalized header
section, wherein the generalized header section is object
independent, and wherein the generalized header section comprises:
information identifying an object type for the object; and at least
one virtualized reference to a portion of the object; and a body
section, wherein the body section comprises the at least one
modification.
10. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the generalized
header section further comprises a unique descriptor of the object
being modified.
11. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the at least
one virtualized reference represents an immutable status of the
object.
12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the at least
one virtualized reference is capable of modification within an
operational transform.
13. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein the at least
one modification identifies a modification to the object.
14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the at least
one modification is serialized into a data stream, wherein
serializing the at least one modification comprises detecting
whether a portion of the object is peripheral to the state of the
object.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further
comprising, when the portion of the object is peripheral to the
state of the object, replacing the portion of the object with a
virtualized reference to the portion of the object.
16. A document collaboration system for performing state-based
revisions, the document collaboration system comprising: a
computing device, comprising: a processor; and memory coupled to
the processor, the memory comprising computer executable
instructions that, when executed by the processor performs a method
comprising: editing a document, wherein editing the document
produces at least one modification to an object associated with the
document; and creating a state-based revision, wherein the
state-based revision comprises: the at least one modification to
the object; and a virtualized reference to content associated with
the object.
17. The document collaboration system of claim 16, the state-based
revision further comprises a header section and a body section.
18. The document collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the
header section comprises at least one of information identifying
the type of the object associated with the object, a unique
descriptor identifying the object and a reference to content
peripheral to the state of the object.
19. The document collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the body
section comprises the at least one modification to the object.
20. The document collaboration system of claim 18, wherein the
header section is object-independent.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Document collaboration systems allow multiple clients to
edit a single document or file to achieve a final version of the
document or file. Although various technologies have been
implemented in such systems, two well-known, yet flawed, approaches
have been identified. The first approach is to merge small custom
records with the changes of other client through operational
transformation. This approach allows for rapid change propagation,
but results in poor scaling of the system's logical complexity in
terms of complex documents and voluminous operations. The second
approach is to send an entire new copy of the document to a
receiving client and allow the receiving client to determine the
changes to be merged by comparing the new document against a
baseline copy of the document. This approach adequately allows for
scaling of the system's logical complexity, but does not provide
for rapid change propagations.
[0002] It is with respect to these and other general considerations
that the aspects disclosed herein have been made. Also, although
relatively specific problems may be discussed, it should be
understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the
specific problems identified in the background or elsewhere in this
disclosure.
SUMMARY
[0003] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detail Description section. This summary is not intended to
identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject
matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the
scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0004] The present disclosure provides methods, systems, and
computer products for providing state-based revisions in a document
collaboration system. In some aspects, a plurality of users may be
simultaneously editing the same document on their respective
computing devices. The document may comprise a plurality of
editable objects having unique objects identifiers. For example, a
document may have a chart object, a conditional formatting rule
object and a hidden row/column object, each of which is assigned a
unique identifier. In some aspects, when a user edits an object in
a local version of the document, a state-based revision ("SBR")
record is created. As used herein, a SBR record refers to a record
consisting of a header section and a body section. The header
section contains information describing the type of object being
edited, a descriptor that uniquely identifies the specific instance
of the object being edited and a collection of common references
that can be adjusted by the document collaboration engine. The body
section contains an opaque binary stream comprising the modified
state of the edited object. The SBR record is then transmitted to
one or more additional devices.
[0005] These and other features and advantages, which character the
present non-limiting aspects, will be apparent from a reading of
the following detailed description and a review of the associated
drawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are explanatory
only and are not restrictive of the non-limiting aspects as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Non-limiting and non-exhaustive aspects are described with
reference to the following Figures in which:
[0007] FIG. 1A illustrates a logical representation of a network
environment in which users may perform state-based revisions,
according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure;
[0008] FIG. 1B illustrates the contents of a state-based-revision
record, according to one or more aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a method for performing state-based
revision records, according to one or more aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates a method for creating state-based
revision records, according to one or more aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates a method for applying state-based
revision records, according to one or more aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating example physical
components of a computing device that may be used with one or more
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIGS. 6A and 6B are simplified block diagrams of a mobile
computing device that may be used with one or more aspects of the
present disclosure; and
[0014] FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a distributed
computing system that may be used with one or more aspects of the
present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully
below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a
part hereof, and which show specific exemplary aspects. However,
different aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in many
different forms and should not be construed as limited to the
aspects set forth herein; rather, these aspects are provided so
that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully
convey the scope of the aspects to those skilled in the art.
Aspects may be practiced as methods, systems or devices.
Accordingly, aspects may take the form of a hardware
implementation, an entirely software implementation or an
implementation combining software and hardware aspects. The
following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a
limiting sense.
[0016] The present disclosure provides methods, systems, and
computer products for providing state-based revisions in a document
collaboration system. In examples, a plurality of users may be
simultaneously editing the same document on their respective
computing devices. A computing device, as used herein, may refer to
computing hardware or software components. For example, a computing
device may be personal computer, a laptop, a tablet computing
device, a mobile computing device such as, for example, a
smartphone or a phablet, one more software applications and/or a
set of instructions. The document may comprise a plurality of
editable objects having unique objects identifiers. For example, a
document may have a chart object, a conditional formatting rule
object and a hidden row/column object, each of which is assigned a
unique identifier. In examples, when a user edits an object in a
local version of the document, a state-based revision ("SBR")
record is created. Generally, a SBR record is created when a
modification occurs in a document. A SBR record may be contain the
modified state of a portion of a document and may be used to
effectively communicate modifications to the document by a user to
other participating users of a document collaboration system. A SBR
may also contain references from the content contained within the
SBR record. By transmitting a SBR record to participating users,
the participating users may enjoy rapid change propagation during
collaboration.
[0017] In certain aspects, a SBR record consists of a header
section and a body section. Generally, a header is data placed at
or near the beginning of a message or a block of data. For example,
a header may be an email header, a data packet header, a
programming language header file or the like. In the aspects
disclosed herein, a header may be a first container within the SBR
record. In those aspects, the header section contains information
describing the type of object being edited, a descriptor that
uniquely identifies the specific instance of the object being
edited and a collection of common references that can be adjusted
by the document collaboration engine. A body section generally is a
portion of data within a message or a block of data. For example,
the body section of an email message may contain the text, images
and/or links to be communicated to the recipient. In the aspects
disclosed herein, the body section may be a second container within
the SBR record and may contain an opaque binary stream comprising
the modified state of the edited object. After the header section
and body section have been populated, the SBR record may be
transmitted to one or more additional devices.
[0018] In such examples, upon receipt of an SBR record comprising
an edit to a remote version of a document, a determination may be
made as to whether edits to the local version of the document have
been performed. A "document" may include, but is not limited to, a
word processing document, a worksheet, a presentation, a workflow
project, a web page, etc. A local edit may be a modification to a
local version of a document. A local edit may be performed from a
local computing device or from a remote computing device that is
accessing a document on a local computing device. If local edits
have been performed, operational transforms ("OT") may be performed
on the SBR record header accordingly. Generally, an operational
transform is method for supporting a range of collaborative
functionalities. For example, an OT may be used to enforce
consistency maintenance and/or concurrency control in collaborative
editing of text documents. After the OTs have been performed, or if
local edits have not been performed, the SBR record header is
analyzed to identify the object within the SBR record. If the
object within the SBR record exists within the local version of the
document, the object and information describing the object are
identified within the local version of the document. The modified
object state within the body of the SBR record is then loaded to
the identified local object. In certain examples, the modified
object state may represent a deletion operation. In such examples,
the deletion operation is performed on the identified local object.
If the object within the SBR record does not exist within the local
version of the document, the object is created within the local
version of the document and the modified object state within the
body of the SBR record is loaded to the created local object.
[0019] FIG. 1A illustrates a system 100 for performing state-based
revisions over a peer-to-peer network, an intranet network, and/or
a distributed computing network, such as the Internet, according to
one or more examples. As shown in FIG. 1A, the system 100 may
include a local computing device 102, an intermediate computing
device 104 and a remote computing device 106. In certain aspects,
local computing device 102, intermediate computing device 104 and
remote computing device 106 may establish a communication session
with each other over the Internet or via some other form of
communication. Local computing device 102, intermediate computing
device 104 and remote computing device 106 may be configured to
transmit a SBR record 110 to each of the other computing devices
within system 110. For example, SBR record 110 may have been
created on local computing device 102 as a result of an edit to a
local document. SBR record 110 may be sent to intermediate
computing device 104 via communication 114. In some aspects,
intermediate computing device 104 may populate a portion or all of
SBR record 110 before transmitting SBR record 110 to remote
computing device 106 via communication 116. For example, SBR record
110 may be populated with an object type of an edited object, a
descriptor that uniquely identifies the object instance of the
edited object, and/or the edited state of the object. In other
aspects, intermediate computing device 104 may simply send SBR
record 110 to remote computing device 106. In still other aspects,
SBR record 110 may originate at intermediate computing device 104
and be received by local computing device 102 via communication
114. In such as aspect, intermediate computing device 104 may
populate all or some of SBR record 110 before sending SBR record
110 to local computing device 102.
[0020] Although FIG. 1A shows only one local computing device, one
intermediate computing device and one remote computing device, it
is contemplated that system 100 may include additional intermediate
computing devices and/or additional remote computing devices. For
example, a local computing device may be able to connect to
multiple intermediate computing devices or to multiple remote
computing devices. Likewise, a single intermediate computing
devices, such as, for example, intermediate computing device 104
may be configured to connect to multiple remote computing devices.
Additionally, the different aspects and functionalities described
herein may operate via a multitude of computing systems including,
without limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless
computing systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile
telephones, smartphones, phablets, wearable computers, netbooks,
tablet or slate type computers, notebook computers, and laptop
computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,
minicomputers, and mainframe computers.
[0021] FIG. 1B illustrates the contents of a SBR record 110,
according to one or more examples. In some aspects, SBR record 110
may be created when one or more the users attempt to edit their
respective versions of the same documents, such as in a document
collaboration system. For example, a user may use a local computing
device to edit a local version of a document using a spreadsheet
application, a word processing application, a presentation
application, a computer code editor, etc. If the user were to
create a data validation rule for cells C3 through D4 within a
spreadsheet, a SBR record may be created to reflect the state-based
revision performed by the user. SBR record 110 may be created by
intermediate computing device 104 and sent to local computing
device 102 via communication 114. At the time of creation, SBR
record 110 may be populated by intermediate computing device 104
with information provided in a call to the collaboration
infrastructure. Such information may include the object and/or
information associated with the object. SBR record 110 may include
a header section 115 and a body section 125. Header section 115 may
refer to data placed at or near the beginning of a message or a
block of data. For example, Header section 115 may be a first
container within the SBR record and may be populated with
information, as described above. Header section 115 may be
object-independent; that is, header section 115 may be capable of
being processed by a common engine regardless of the specific
object type contained within the SBR record. The object-independent
nature of the header allows the OT logic of system 100 to scale
based on the quantity of reference types in the system, instead of
the quantity of actual records or operations the system
possesses.
[0022] Header section 115 may comprise information identifying the
type of object being edited 117, a descriptor that uniquely
identifies the specific instance of the object being edited 119
and/or one or more virtualized references to content that is
outside of the state of the object 121. Generally, an object type
is a data type used in object-oriented programming to wrap a
non-object/primitive type. Object type may represent a data
structure, functions and/or procedures to manipulate the data. In
some aspects, Information 117 may indicate data structure,
functions and/or procedures associated with an edited object. A
virtualized reference generally refers to a virtual token used to
replace data and/or other content associated with a document and/or
object. For instance, the virtual token `text` may be used to
represent the entire body of an email message. To continue with the
above example, the SBR header created by the user's revision may
indicate an object type identifier of `Data Validation`, an object
identifier of `Data_Validation_Rule_1` and a virtualized cell
reference of the affected data range, e.g., `ref1=C3:D4`. In some
aspects, because header section 115 may comprise the virtualized
references to external content, the virtual references may be
updated and/or modified within OTs while maintaining the immutable
status of the external content.
[0023] Body section 125 may refer to a portion of data within a
message or a block of data. For example, the body section may be a
second container within the SBR record and may be populated with
information upon creation or when the SBR record is received by the
user computing device. In some aspects, body section 125 may
comprises an opaque binary stream comprising the modified state of
the edited object 127. A binary stream may consist of one or more
bytes of data. In some aspects, an object or data associated with
an edited object may be serialized into a binary stream
representing the object or associated object data. Further
continuing with the above example, the SBR body created by the
user's revision may contain a binary stream of information
indicating that the edit `Applies to range ref1`, `Criteria:
Number>3` and `Error String: Invalid Input`.
[0024] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for performing state-based
revision records, according to one or more examples of the present
disclosure. Method 200 may be executed, for instance, by local
computing device 102, described above. Method 200 may alternatively
be executed by any suitable computing device capable of performing
state-based revisions in a document collaboration system. The
method 200 may be implemented in software, hardware or a
combination of software and hardware. At operation 210, a user
edits an object in a local version of a document. A "document" may
include, but is not limited to, a word processing document, a
worksheet, a presentation, a workflow project, a web page, etc. An
"object" or an "object chunk" may refer to a chart, a conditional
formatting rule object, a text box, an image, a link, a span or
rows/columns, and the like. The type of the object depends on the
type of the document. For example, if the document is a
spreadsheet, an object may be a cell or column. If the document is
a word processing document, an object may be a paragraph of text,
an image, etc. Although the collaborative aspects of the document
collaboration system discussed herein are typically invoked when
two or more users are simultaneously editing the same document, it
is contemplated that a SBR record may also be created when a single
user is actively editing a document in the document collaboration
system. At operation 220, a state-based revision may be created in
response to editing the object. Editing the object may include
operations such as creating a new object, modifying the value of
the object, modifying the state and/or properties associated with
the object and removal and/or deletion of the object. At operation
230, the SBR record is transmitted to one or more additional
devices. The SBR record may be transmitted directly to a remote
computing device or may be transmitted to an intermediary computing
device using a communication channel, such as communication 116,
before being transmitted to a remote computing device.
[0025] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for creating state-based
revision records, according to one or more examples of the present
disclosure. The method 200 may be implemented in software, hardware
or a combination of software and hardware. At operation 310,
machine code associated with the edited object may perform a call
to the document collaboration infrastructure. In aspects, the
machine code may be located on the local device, an intermediate
device or a remote device. In general terms, the call is a sequence
of program instructions that performs a specific task. For example,
the call may be described as a function call, a procedure call, a
routine call, a method call, a subroutine call, etc. The call
contains information identifying various aspects of the edited
object and notifies the document collaboration infrastructure of
the edited object. At operation 320, the document collaboration
infrastructure is prompted to create a record describing the edit.
A SBR record container is created in response to the prompt. At
operation 330, the SBR header and body sections are created within
the SBR record container. In some aspects, the SBR header and body
sections are empty containers at creation. At operation 340, the
header section is populated using the information within the call.
For example, the document collaboration infrastructure populates
the header section with an object type of the edited object and a
descriptor that uniquely identifies the object instance of the
edited object.
[0026] At operation 350, the body section is populated. In some
examples, the modified state of the edited object is passed
directly into the document collaboration infrastructure. In other
examples, the document collaboration infrastructure may use the
information within the call to perform a separate call to feature
code. For example, information within the call may identify the
feature to request and/or which specific object to request. The
feature code may then populate the body section with the modified
state of the edited object. After the body section is populated,
the content of the body section is serialized into a data stream
containing the revision. During serialization, references to
content outside of the edited object's state may be detected and
replaced with a unique identifier, a virtualized token and/or the
like. This virtual tokenization of references provides a layer of
indirection between the object state that contains the reference
and the reference itself, which allows for modification of the
reference without requiring knowledge of the object the reference
is within. The mappings between the virtualized tokens and their
corresponding references may further populate the header section.
In certain aspects, the body section may be populated with a null
object to indicate the deletion or an object or the removal of an
object state.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for applying state-based
revision records, according to one or more examples of the present
disclosure. The method 400 may be implemented in software, hardware
or a combination of software and hardware. Method 400 may be
performed by any of the computing devices in FIG. 1A. At operation
405, the SBR record is received at a computing device, such as
remote computing device 106. In certain aspects, the computing
device contains the document collaboration infrastructure and the
logic to transmit the SBR record to one or more alternate computing
devices. The users of the one or more alternate computing devices,
or some combination thereof, may be simultaneously editing their
respective versions of the document containing the edited object.
In such aspects, the alternate computing devices receive the
respective edits. Alternately, the users of the one or more
alternate computing devices, or some combination thereof, may be
simply be accessing their respective versions of the document. In
other examples, the computing device contains a version of the
document that is local to the computing device. The user may be
editing the local version of the document, accessing the local
version of the document or may possess a local version of the
document. At determination 410, a determination is made as to
whether local edits to the Device B version of the document have
been performed. If it is determined that local edits have not been
performed, the flow proceeds to operation 415. If it is determined
that local edits have been performed, the flow proceeds to
operation 420.
[0028] At operation 420, a corresponding SBR record may be created
if the local edits result in a state-based change to an object in
the Device B version of the document. If the local changes do not
result in a state-based change to an object in the Device B version
of the document, the local changes may simply be applied. OTs may
then be performed on the received SBR header to reflect the local
changes applied to the Device B version of the document. Consider
the following example: In response to User A adding data validation
identified as `DV1` onto cell D13 of document X, a SBR is produced
with the header `DV1`. When serializing `DV1`, cell D13 is
identified as a reference external to the data validation and is
tokenized as `ref1`. Simultaneously, User B inserts a row into
document X above row 13. When User B receives User A's SBR record,
User B performs an OT on the SBR record. As the reference to D13 is
stored in the header, it is visible to the OT method, which may
adjust it to D14 to account for the row inserted by User B. After
the OT is complete, User A's SBR record specifies an edit to object
`DV1` and the header includes a mapping of `ref1` to D14. In
operation 415, the SBR record is analyzed in order to identify the
edited object. Analyzing the SBR record includes parsing the header
to extract information relating to the edited object. In
determination 430, a determination is made as to whether the object
identified in the SBR record header exists in the Device B version
of the document. If the object exists in the Device B version of
the document, the object and information associated with the object
are identified in operation 435. The flow proceeds to 445. If the
object does not exist in the Device B version of the document, an
instance of the object is created at flow 440. In operation 445,
the identified or created object is loaded with the edited and
adjusted object state in the SBR record body. The flow then
terminates.
[0029] The examples and functionalities described herein may
operate via a multitude of computing systems including, without
limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless computing
systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile telephones,
netbooks, tablet or slate type computers, notebook computers, and
laptop computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,
minicomputers, and mainframe computers.
[0030] In addition, the examples and functionalities described
herein may operate over distributed systems (e.g., cloud-based
computing systems), where application functionality, memory, data
storage and retrieval and various processing functions may be
operated remotely from each other over a distributed computing
network, such as the Internet or an intranet. User interfaces and
information of various types may be displayed via on-board
computing device displays or via remote display units associated
with one or more computing devices. For example user interfaces and
information of various types may be displayed and interacted with
on a wall surface onto which user interfaces and information of
various types are projected. Interaction with the multitude of
computing systems with which examples of the present disclosure may
be practiced include, keystroke entry, touch screen entry, voice or
other audio entry, gesture entry where an associated computing
device is equipped with detection (e.g., camera) functionality for
capturing and interpreting user gestures for controlling the
functionality of the computing device, and the like.
[0031] FIGS. 5-7 and the associated descriptions provide a
discussion of a variety of operating environments in which examples
of the present disclosure may be practiced. However, the devices
and systems illustrated and discussed with respect to FIGS. 5-7 are
for purposes of example and illustration and are not limiting of a
vast number of computing device configurations that may be utilized
for practicing examples described herein.
[0032] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating physical components
(i.e., hardware) of a computing device 1100 with which examples of
the present disclosure may be practiced. The computing device
components described below may be suitable for the computing
devices described above including the server computing device 110
and the client computing device 150. In a basic configuration, the
computing device 1100 may include at least one processing unit 502
and a system memory 504. Depending on the configuration and type of
computing device, the system memory 504 may comprise, but is not
limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random access memory),
non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory), flash memory, or any
combination of such memories. The system memory 504 may include an
operating system 505 and one or more program modules 506 suitable
for running software applications 520 such as those supported by
remote application programs described herein. The operating system
505, for example, may be suitable for controlling the operation of
the computing device 1100. Furthermore, examples of the present
disclosure may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library,
other operating systems, or any other application program and is
not limited to any particular application or system. This basic
configuration is illustrated in FIG. 5 by those components within a
dashed line 508. The computing device 1100 may have additional
features or functionality. For example, the computing device 1100
may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/or
non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks,
or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 5 by a
removable storage device 509 and a non-removable storage device
510.
[0033] As stated above, a number of program modules and data files
may be stored in the system memory 504. While executing on the
processing unit 502, the program modules 506 may perform processes
including, but not limited to, one or more of the stages of the
operational flows 200-400 illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. Other program
modules that may be used in accordance with examples of the present
disclosure may include electronic mail and contacts applications,
word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database
applications, slide presentation applications, drawing or
computer-aided application programs, etc.
[0034] Furthermore, examples of the present disclosure may be
practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic
elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic
gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip
containing electronic elements or microprocessors. For example,
examples of the present disclosure may be practiced via a
system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of the components
illustrated in FIG. 5 may be integrated onto a single integrated
circuit. Such an SOC device may include one or more processing
units, graphics units, communications units, system virtualization
units and various application functionality all of which are
integrated (or "burned") onto the chip substrate as a single
integrated circuit. When operating via an SOC, the functionality,
described herein may be operated via application-specific logic
integrated with other components of the computing device 1100 on
the single integrated circuit (chip). Examples of the present
disclosure may also be practiced using other technologies capable
of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and
NOT, including but not limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, and
quantum technologies. In addition, examples of the present
disclosure may be practiced within a general purpose computer or in
any other circuits or systems.
[0035] The computing device 1100 may also have one or more input
device(s) 512 such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound input
device, a touch input device, etc. The output device(s) 514 such as
a display, speakers, a printer, etc. may also be included. The
aforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. The
computing device 1100 may include one or more communication
connections 516 allowing communications with other computing
devices 518. Examples of suitable communication connections 516
include, but are not limited to, RF transmitter, receiver, and/or
transceiver circuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or
serial ports.
[0036] The term computer readable media as used herein may include
computer storage media. Computer storage media may include volatile
and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in
any method or technology for storage of information, such as
computer readable instructions, data structures, or program
modules. The system memory 504, the removable storage device 509,
and the non-removable storage device 510 are all computer storage
media examples (i.e., memory storage.) Computer storage media may
include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM),
flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile
disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic
tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or
any other article of manufacture which can be used to store
information and which can be accessed by the computing device 1100.
Any such computer storage media may be part of the computing device
1100. Computer storage media does not include a carrier wave or
other propagated or modulated data signal.
[0037] Communication media may be embodied by computer readable
instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a
modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport
mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term
"modulated data signal" may describe a signal that has one or more
characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode
information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,
communication media may include wired media such as a wired network
or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,
radio frequency (RF), infrared, and other wireless media.
[0038] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a mobile computing device 600,
for example, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet personal
computer, a laptop computer, and the like, with which examples of
the present disclosure may be practiced. With reference to FIG. 6A,
one embodiment of a mobile computing device 600 for implementing
the examples is illustrated. In a basic configuration, the mobile
computing device 600 is a handheld computer having both input
elements and output elements. The mobile computing device 600
typically includes a display 605 and one or more input buttons 610
that allow the user to enter information into the mobile computing
device 600. The display 605 of the mobile computing device 600 may
also function as an input device (e.g., a touch screen display). If
included, an optional side input element 615 allows further user
input. The side input element 615 may be a rotary switch, a button,
or any other type of manual input element. In alternative examples,
mobile computing device 600 may incorporate more or less input
elements. For example, the display 605 may not be a touch screen in
some examples. In yet another alternative embodiment, the mobile
computing device 600 is a portable phone system, such as a cellular
phone. The mobile computing device 600 may also include an optional
keypad 635. Optional keypad 635 may be a physical keypad or a
"soft" keypad generated on the touch screen display. In various
examples, the output elements include the display 605 for showing a
graphical user interface (GUI), a visual indicator 620 (e.g., a
light emitting diode), and/or an audio transducer 625 (e.g., a
speaker). In some examples, the mobile computing device 600
incorporates a vibration transducer for providing the user with
tactile feedback. In yet another embodiment, the mobile computing
device 600 incorporates input and/or output ports, such as an audio
input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone
jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals
to or receiving signals from an external device.
[0039] FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of
one embodiment of a mobile computing device. That is, the mobile
computing device 600 can incorporate a system (i.e., an
architecture) 602 to implement some examples. In one embodiment,
the system 602 is implemented as a "smart phone" capable of running
one or more applications (e.g., browser, e-mail, calendaring,
contact managers, messaging clients, games, and media
clients/players). In some examples, the system 602 is integrated as
a computing device, such as an integrated personal digital
assistant (PDA) and wireless phone.
[0040] One or more application programs 666 may be loaded into the
memory 662 and run on or in association with the operating system
664. Examples of the application programs include phone dialer
programs, e-mail programs, personal information management (PIM)
programs, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, Internet
browser programs, messaging programs, and so forth. The system 602
also includes a non-volatile storage area 668 within the memory
662. The non-volatile storage area 668 may be used to store
persistent information that should not be lost if the system 602 is
powered down. The application programs 666 may use and store
information in the non-volatile storage area 668, such as e-mail or
other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. A
synchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system
602 and is programmed to interact with a corresponding
synchronization application resident on a host computer to keep the
information stored in the non-volatile storage area 668
synchronized with corresponding information stored at the host
computer. As should be appreciated, other applications may be
loaded into the memory 662 and run on the mobile computing device
600 described herein.
[0041] The system 602 has a power supply 670, which may be
implemented as one or more batteries. The power supply 670 might
further include an external power source, such as an AC adapter or
a powered docking cradle that supplements or recharges the
batteries.
[0042] The system 602 may also include a radio 672 that performs
the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency
communications. The radio 672 facilitates wireless connectivity
between the system 602 and the "outside world," via a
communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and
from the radio 672 are conducted under control of the operating
system 664. In other words, communications received by the radio
672 may be disseminated to the application programs 666 via the
operating system 664, and vice versa.
[0043] The visual indicator 620 may be used to provide visual
notifications, and/or an audio interface 674 may be used for
producing audible notifications via the audio transducer 625. In
the illustrated embodiment, the visual indicator 620 is a light
emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer 625 is a speaker.
These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply 670 so
that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the
notification mechanism even though the processor 660 and other
components might shut down for conserving battery power. The LED
may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes
action to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audio
interface 674 is used to provide audible signals to and receive
audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to being
coupled to the audio transducer 625, the audio interface 674 may
also be coupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as
to facilitate a telephone conversation. In accordance with examples
of the present disclosure, the microphone may also serve as an
audio sensor to facilitate control of notifications, as will be
described below. The system 602 may further include a video
interface 676 that enables an operation of an on-board camera 630
to record still images, video stream, and the like.
[0044] A mobile computing device 600 implementing the system 602
may have additional features or functionality. For example, the
mobile computing device 600 may also include additional data
storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, magnetic
disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is
illustrated in FIG. 6B by the non-volatile storage area 668.
[0045] Data/information generated or captured by the mobile
computing device 600 and stored via the system 602 may be stored
locally on the mobile computing device 600, as described above, or
the data may be stored on any number of storage media that may be
accessed by the device via the radio 672 or via a wired connection
between the mobile computing device 600 and a separate computing
device associated with the mobile computing device 600, for
example, a server computer in a distributed computing network, such
as the Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information may
be accessed via the mobile computing device 600 via the radio 672
or via a distributed computing network. Similarly, such
data/information may be readily transferred between computing
devices for storage and use according to well-known
data/information transfer and storage means, including electronic
mail and collaborative data/information sharing systems.
[0046] FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of the architecture of a
system for transferring data between different computing devices as
described above. The data transferred between client computing
device 150 and the server computing device 110 may be stored in
different communication channels or other storage types. For
example, various documents may be stored using a directory service
722, a web portal 724, a mailbox service 726, an instant messaging
store 728, or a social networking site 730. A server 720 may
provide data to and from client computing device 150. As one
example, the server 720 may be a web server. The server 720 may
provide data to client computing device 150 or mobile computing
device 600 over the web through a network 715. By way of example,
the Node A 110 or Node B 115 may be embodied in a personal
computer, a tablet computing device and/or a mobile computing
device 600 (e.g., a smart phone). Any of these examples may obtain
content from the store 716.
[0047] Among other examples, the present disclosure presents
systems and methods for performing state-based revisions in
document collaboration systems, comprising: initiating, on a first
computing device, a document editing session for a local version of
a document; creating a state-based revision, wherein the
state-based revision comprises: the at least one modification; and
a virtualized reference to content associated with the at least one
modification; and sending the state-based revision to a second
computing device. In further examples, the at least one
modification identifies a modification to an object within the
document. In further examples, the state-based revision further
comprises a header section and a body section. In further examples,
the header section comprises at least one of information
identifying the type of the object being modified, a unique
descriptor identifying the object being modified and a reference to
content peripheral to the state of the object. In further examples,
the header section is object-independent. In further examples, the
body section comprises the at least one modification. In further
examples, the at least one modification is serialized into a data
stream, wherein serializing the at least one modification comprises
detecting whether content peripheral to the state of the object is
present. In further examples, when content peripheral to the state
of the object is detected, replacing the content with a reference
to the content, wherein the reference to the content is at least
one of a unique identifier and a virtualized token.
[0048] Further aspects disclosed herein provide a computer-readable
media storing computer executable instructions that when executed
cause a computing system to produce a state-based revision record
associated with an object, the state-based revision record
comprising: a generalized header section, wherein the generalized
header section is object independent, and wherein the generalized
header section comprises: information identifying an object type
for the object; and at least one virtualized reference to a portion
of the object; and a body section, wherein the body section
comprises the at least one modification. In further examples, the
generalized header section further comprises a unique descriptor of
the object being modified. In further examples, the at least one
virtualized reference represents an immutable status of the object.
In further examples, the at least one virtualized reference is
capable of modification within an operational transform. In further
examples, the at least one modification identifies a modification
to the object. In further examples, the at least one modification
is serialized into a data stream, wherein serializing the at least
one modification comprises detecting whether a portion of the
object is peripheral to the state of the object. In further
examples, when the portion of the object is peripheral to the state
of the object, the portion of the object is replaced with a
virtualized reference to the portion of the object.
[0049] Additional aspects disclosed herein provide a document
collaboration system for performing state-based revisions, the
document collaboration system comprising: a computing device,
comprising a processor; and memory coupled to the processor, the
memory comprising computer executable instructions that, when
executed by the processor performs a method comprising: separating
a first document into a plurality of object chunks, wherein
plurality of object chunks comprises a first object chunk in the
plurality of object chunks is associated with a first object state;
editing the document, wherein editing the document produces at
least one modification to the first object chunk; and creating a
state-based revision, wherein the state-based revision comprises:
the at least one modification to the first object chunk; and a
virtualized reference to content associated with the first object
chunk. In further examples, the state-based revision further
comprises a header section and a body section. In further examples,
the header section comprises at least one of information
identifying the type of the object associated with the first object
chunk, a unique descriptor identifying the object chunk and a
reference to content peripheral to the state of the object chunk.
In further examples, the body section comprises the at least one
modification to the object chunk. In further examples, the header
section is object-independent.
[0050] Additional aspects disclosed herein provide a document
collaboration means for performing state-based revisions, the
document collaboration system comprising: a computing device,
comprising a processor; and memory coupled to the processor, the
memory comprising computer executable instructions that, when
executed by the processor performs a method comprising: separating
a first document into a plurality of object chunks, wherein
plurality of object chunks comprises a first object chunk in the
plurality of object chunks is associated with a first object state;
editing the document, wherein editing the document produces at
least one modification to the first object chunk; and creating a
state-based revision, wherein the state-based revision comprises:
the at least one modification to the first object chunk; and a
virtualized reference to content associated with the first object
chunk. In further examples, the state-based revision further
comprises a header section and a body section. In further examples,
the header section comprises at least one of information
identifying the type of the object associated with the first object
chunk, a unique descriptor identifying the object chunk and a
reference to content peripheral to the state of the object chunk.
In further examples, the body section comprises the at least one
modification to the object chunk. In further examples, the header
section is object-independent.
[0051] Examples of the present disclosure, for example, are
described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational
illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products
according to examples of the present disclosure. The functions/acts
noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any
flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact
be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes
be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality/acts involved.
[0052] The description and illustration of one or more examples
provided in this application are not intended to limit or restrict
the scope of the present disclosure as claimed in any way. The
examples, examples, and details provided in this application are
considered sufficient to convey possession and enable others to
make and use the best mode of the claimed examples. The claimed
examples should not be construed as being limited to any
embodiment, example, or detail provided in this application.
Regardless of whether shown and described in combination or
separately, the various features (both structural and
methodological) are intended to be selectively included or omitted
to produce an embodiment with a particular set of features. Having
been provided with the description and illustration of the present
application, one skilled in the art may envision variations,
modifications, and alternate examples falling within the spirit of
the broader aspects of the general inventive concept embodied in
this application that do not depart from the broader scope of the
claimed examples.
* * * * *